Inside The Wheelhouse: How I would book WWE Old School Raw

I’m extremely excited for WWE Old School Raw this Monday night, which can be good and bad. I’m excited for the show because I am hoping for it to be a throwback to the way I watched WWE when I was growing up. It can also be a bad thing because I am so excited for it that it could very well let me down if not done correctly. With that being said here is how I would book Old School WWE Raw this Monday night.

The set is crucial in the “Old School Raw.” If you have the same Monday Night Raw set then there really is nothing special to the show, it’s basically a normal Monday Night Raw with a bunch of “WWE legends” in attendance. You have to give a look of an old school/retro/throwback edition of a WWE show or an old Raw.

You can do the old black sheet with the retro WWE logo similar to what you would see in like the 1990 Royal Rumble or any old WrestleMania prior to like WrestleMania 7. The old entrance stage I would like to see is the old fluorescent light entrance that we saw in the early editions of Monday Night Raw. I’m not talking about the blocked “Raw” letters; I’m talking no titan tron, just the green/red/blue/white fluorescent light entrance with the old school WWF logo at the top.

Second, you got to make the ring look an old school show. Give us the old “red, white and blue” ropes. No red ropes for the Raw show, the old “red, white and blue” ropes. Frankly I don’t know why the WWE doesn’t have that style of ropes at EVERY show. The ring apron has to be the tarp looking blue. No Raw logo, nothing.

Next you have to have the refs dress up in the old blue shirts with the bowtie. The ref stripes didn’t come into play until the mid-90s. Put the foot locker shirts away for one day. Is it a minimal effect to the show? Yes of course it is. But it makes it look retro if the refs themselves look retro as well.

Also don’t do the red light over the fans to indicate that I am actually watching a Raw brand show. If you’re going to light up the fans then give us just a normal light like they used to do until this most recent era. Small things like this make the retro show seem like a retro show.

Other small things that will make the show seem retro is having the old WWF blue logo hanging up in the rafters or give us the old Monday Night Raw logo. While I may be coming off extremely anal over this entire setup, it’s because I am. An “old school” show should look like an “old school” show.

As for the commentary team give me Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross for old times sake. Sadly Bobby Heenan can’t do commentary anymore and I doubt the WWE will bring in the “Macho Man” Randy Savage to do commentary for old times sake. I’d rather have Heenan, Savage and McMahon one more time, but it just won’t happen. The next best thing is having Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and of course the great Jim Ross behind the mic. Michael Cole does not give it an “old school” feel.

When it comes to the legends themselves, while I enjoy seeing all of them on my television again, I would like to see some fresher legends involved. “Macho Man” Randy Savage is at the top of my list to be at the show. Even having Bret Hart there will be great as well, but I’d like to see some newer legends we haven’t seen in a while. While we saw them all on TNA recently, it would be pretty cool to see Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac show up at the “Old School Raw.” Kind of do a nod of when they showed up on a Nitro, but do it in reverse for Raw.

Other little things that will make the show very cool will be the graphics of the show, the way the ring side is setup, etc. I’ve already heard Mean Gene Okerland will be doing the backstage interviews, which by the way I hope is an old style looking backstage interview area, and that Howard Finkel will be the ring announcer, both of those moves by the WWE clearly show that at least the company is making an effort.

Finally it would be a good nod by “Old School WWE Raw” if you remember all those who have tragically passed away through the years and who have helped make Raw & the WWE special. You can not forget about your past and especially those who have helped you along the way. It would be a very nice gesture by the WWE.

Those are some of the ways I’d book “Old School Raw” for this coming Monday night. I’m not going to get into the storylines heading into Survivor Series because that’s a whole different blog. I just wanted to focus on what I’d like to see on this Monday’s Raw. Hopefully the WWE delivers because I’m very excited to see how it looks, please don’t let me down WWE.

How would you book “Old School Raw?” Tell us your thoughts on “The Still Real to Us Show” by e-mailing us over at at [email protected] and give us your thoughts on whether you agree with more or not! Then go ahead and download the show this Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.wheelhouseradio.com or www.wrestlechat.net to find out if your pick made it to the air!

Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric's work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.

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